Monday, January 19, 2004
BACK TO THE MAIN PAGE
THE MULTIFUNCTIONAL CATCHER
With the trade of Ramon Hernandez to San Diego even the most vocal A’s fan could have seen the stats and read the writing on the wall (this blog). As much as Hernandez meant to the pitching staff as a catcher, he meant very little in run support. With Rick Peterson also vacating the ranks of the mighty (the A’s brain trust) the A’s pitching staff is ion position to make a larger step of maturation on its own. PART 3: LOOKING FOR THE A’s ANSWER
With Hernandez gone, the catching duties, according to the 40 man roster, fall to veteran Damian Miller and veteran backup Adam Melhuse.
At Miller’s age (34 - October 13, 1969) and Melhuse’s inability behind the plate make neither a quality insertion for 130 starts at catcher in 2004. In all likelihood the A’s are going to push Miller into the starting role, though, we’re not really sure why. Here’s the three year rundown for each:DAMIAN MILLER
2001-2003
2001 - ARIZONA
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 123 978 380 32 13 35 .271 .337 .424 .761 2002 - ARIZONA
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 101 763 297 33 11 38 .249 .340 .434 .774 2003 – CHICAGO CUBS
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 114 929 352 29 9 39 .233 .310 .369 .679 ADAM MELHUSE
2001-2003
2001 - COLORADO
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 40 142 71 3 1 6 .183 .241 .254 .465 2002 – PCL (AAA) COMBINED
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 106 ??? 341 43 13 46 .320 .397 .539 .936 2003 – OAKLAND/SACRAMENTO (COMBINED)
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 95 186+ 224 24 8 35 .293 .383 .496 .879
In no way are we suggesting adding combined AAA and Major League stats are comparable by lateral movement. In this, case, though, it doesn’t really matter since it’s just a snapshot view.
Was someone bitching about our labeling of Melhuse’s inability behind the plate? Hmmm, well, here are some numbers:
June 3rd Mulder @ Florida (13-2 loss) 8 IP, 18 Hits, 3 Walks, 4K’s, 2 HR one Injured Ace (Mulder)
June 8th Hudson @ Philadelphia (8-3 loss) 8 IP, 9 Hits, 4 Walks, 8 K’s, 3 HR
June 14th Harang vs Montreal (5-4 win) 9 IP, 13 Hits, 4 Walks, 5 K’s, 0 HR
Jun 20th Harang vs San Francisco (5-3 win) 9 IP, 9 Hits, 1 Walk, 3 K’s, 1 HR
June 25th Harang @ Texas (9-8 loss) 8 IP, 15 Hits, 1 Walk, 2 K’s, 3 HR
June 30th Harang @ Seattle (3-1 loss) 7 IP, 6 Hits, 0 Walks, 2 K’s, 0 HR
July 9th Ted Lilly vsTampa Bay (6-3 win) 9 IP, 9 Hits, 3 Walks, 4 K’s, 1 HR
July 13th Zito vs Baltimore (1-0 win) 9 IP, 4 Hits, 2 Walks, 3 K’s, 0 HR
July 26th Harden @ Anaheim (8-1 win) 9 IP, 9 Hits, 2 Walks, 3 K’s, ) HR
July 31st Harden vs Cleveland (3-1 win) 9 IP, 6 Hits, 4 Walks, 11 K’s, 0 HR
August 2nd Zito vs New Yaork (10-7 loss) 9 IP, 12 Hits, 2 Walks, 6 K’s, 4 HR
August 10th Harden @ Chicago White Sox (5-1 loss) 8 IP, 10 Hits, 2 Walks, 10 K’s, 2 HR
August 15th Harden vs Toronto (8-5 loss) 9 IP, 11 hits, 3 Walks, 9 K, 3 HR
August 23rd Halama @ Toronto (11-5 win) 9 IP, 8 Hits, 6 Walks, 7 K’s, 0 HR
August 28th Halama vs Baltimore (6-4 win) 9 IP, 9 Hits, 3 Walks, 1 K’s, 2 HR
September 6th Harden @ Tampa Bay (7-4 loss) 8 IP, 11 Hits, 5 Walks, 3 K’s, 0 HR
September 21st Lilly vs Seattle (12-0 win) 9 IP, 4 Hits, 3 Walks, 10 K’s, 0 HR
September 24th Hudson vs Texas (5-3 win) 9 IP, 7 Hits, 1 Walks, 6 K’s, 2 HR
September 27th Zito @ Seattle (7-4 loss) 8 IP, 12 Hits, 3 Walks, 7 K’s, 0 HR
Not exactly awe inspiring or confidence building. Take out the first few starts by Harden and that list becomes ugly. There were several starts where the starting pitcher did not reach the sixth inning. Melhuse is a catcher and he can sit behind the plate. That doesn’t mean he calls a good game or handles the pitching staff well.
Is that a knock on the Catcher Rotation system?
No.
It’s a knock on the A’s for relying on Ramon Hernandez for more than 85% of the catching duties the last four seasons. It’s sort of like waking up every morning to a wonderful pot of coffee (Peet’s). Then, once or twice a month someone throws in some Foldger’s Crystal or Maxwell House and things just aren’t the same. We aren’t calling it decaf coffee, that would be A.J. Hinch.
The slightest bit of change can alter a player's performance. Ask any MLB player who is not superstitious and they will rattle of a laundry list of a dozen things they have to do in a precise order before they hit the playing field. Talk to a player who is superstitious and you will wonder how someone has not come up with a book on sports superstitions (we hereby declare the rights to such a book - so back off).
Sure you can correlate Melhuse catching Harang, Harden and Halama in most of those starts. But, he gets an extra asterisk of stigma because he caught their game in which Mulder originally got hurt. Yah, sure it is childish and idiotic and brainless of us to write that. But there are a few dozen mark Mulder fans right now working on Melhuse voodoo dolls.
Let's look at a few of the catchers in the A's system to see if we can find who can be possible candidates for a Catcher Rotation for 2005. Let's also keep a close eye out for a Multifunctional cather.
Okay.
We found one.
Looking at Jason Grabowski you would have figured we have found our Multifunctional Catcher. Grabowski will play the corner positions in the outfield or in the infield and he bats from the left side. He also catches a few innings here and there. In 2003 Grabowski suffered a fractured shin in Sacramento and the injury limited his playing time and time behind the plate. But here are his stats for the last three years -JASON GRABOWSKI
2001-2003
2001 – PCL (AAA) TACOMA Grabowski's numbers are incomplete for Tacoma as sacrifices and hit by pitch info were not available to calculate On Base Percentage.
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 114 ??? 394 44 9 61 .297 .396+ .462+ .856+
2002 – PCL (AAA) SACRAMENTO
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 73 ??? 265 37 12 39 .294 .387 .536 .923 2003 – PCL (AAA) SACRAMENTO
Games Innings AB XBH HR BB AVG OBP SLG OPS 67 ??? 250 24 9 31 .292 .364 .468 .832
The question is, what the hell are the A’s waiting for? Throw this kid a mask and watch him tear up the American League. Grabowski is aging and he still has not been given a fair shake. He’s in the same boat as Graham Koonce and may very well be fighting Koonce for the 25th spot on the roster this Spring.
posted by ZACHARY D MANPRIN at 5:39 AM
The Forum is open and available to all - registration is required to post, but not to read.
